Charles C. Hong, MD, PhD

B.S. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Life Sciences

MD, PhD (Genetics), Yale University

Residency: Internal Medicine, Yale-New Haven Hospital

Fellowship: Cardiovascular Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital

Fellowship: Chemical Biology, Harvard Medical School

Charles (Chaz) Hong is a physician-scientist whose research, which functions at the intersection of developmental biology, chemical biology, stem cell biology, and cardiovascular medicine, has led to new biological insights and therapeutic opportunities. Dr. Hong’s work includes innovative chemical genetic studies in zebrafish as well as the use of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) to better understand human heart diseases at the cellular level.  His clinical expertise is cardiovascular genetics.  

His scientific contributions include the first small molecule inhibitor of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling, which has led directly to a clinical stage therapeutic program for devastating human diseases. Additionally, his small molecules are key components of most commonly used strategies to generate neurons  from human stem cells. Moreover, his chemical genetic studies elucidated the roles of mitogen-activated kinase in artery-vein specification during development. His ongoing studies include the elucidation of the novel role of centrosome proteins in cardiac structure and function, and therapeutic targeting of a novel pro-oncogenic signaling activated downstream of the Warburg Effect.  Dr. Hong edited one of the first books focused on the role of chemical biology in stem cell and regenerative medicine, and a book covering the latest methods and protocols in chemical biology. He serves on editorial boards of number of scientific journals and is the inaugural Chief Editor of Frontiers in Drug Discovery overseeing Hematologic and Cardiovascular domains.  He is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science, and serves on the Board of the Sarnoff Foundation for Cardiovascular Research. Finally, Dr. Hong is a key member of the West Baltimore RICH (Reducing Isolation and Inequities in Cardiovascular Health) Collaborative, an interdisciplinary team of community members and healthcare providers working together to develop sustainable strategies to overcome health disparities in West Baltimore.

Prior to joining the University of Maryland School of Medicine, he was on faculty at Harvard Medical School and Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

Lab Website: http://www.medschool.umaryland.edu/hong-lab/

General Cardiology Cardiovascular Genetics Chemical Biology Drug Discovery

Books, Senior Editor

• Chemical Biology: Methods and Protocols  Hempel E , Williams H, Hong C, editors. Humana Press; 2015 Jan 1.
• Chemical Biology in Regenerative Medicine: Bridging Stem Cells and Future Therapies  Hong C, Ao A, Hao J, editors. Wiley; 2014 Aug 1.

Selected Publications

• Cadar AG, Feaster TK, Bersell KR, Wang L, Hong TT, Balsamo JA, Zhang Z, Chun YW, Nam Y-J, Gotthardt M, Knollmann BC, Roden DM, Lim CC, Hong CC. Real-time visualization of titin dynamics reveals extensive reversible photobleaching in human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes, AJP-Cell Physiology 2020; 318:C163-C173. PMID:31747312
• Domanski MJ, Tian X, Wu CO, Reis JP, Day AK, Gu Y, Zhao L, Bae S, Liu K, Hassan AA, Zimrin D, Farkoh M, Hong CC, Lloyd-Jones D, Fuster V. Time Course of LDL-Cholesterol Exposure and Cardiovascular Disease Event Risk. J Am Coll Cardiol 2020; 76:1507-1516. PMID:32972526
• Thayer T, Cardenas CL, Trejeeve M, Nicholson CH, Traeger L, Wunderer F, Slocum C, Sigurslid H, Shakartzi H, O’Rourke C, Shelton G, Buswell M, Barnes H, Neitzel LR, Ledsky C, Li P, Burke M, Farher-Eger E, Perrien DS, Kumar R, Corey K, Wells Q, Bloch KD, Hong CC, Block DB, Malhotra R. The role of bone morphogenetic protein signaling in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Scientific Reports 2020; 10:1038. PMID:32561790
• Durbin MD, Cadar AG, Williams CH, Bichell DP, Su YR, Hong CC. Hypoplastic left heart syndrome sequencing reveals a novel NOTCH1 mutation in a family with single ventricle defects. Pediatric Cardiology 2017; 38:1232-1240. PMID:28608148.
• Feaster TK, Cadar AG, Wang L, Williams CH, Chun YW, Hempel J, Bloodworth N, Merryman WD, Lim CC, Wu JC, Knollmann BC, Hong CC. Matrigel Mattress: A Method for the Generation of Single Contracting Human-Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes. Circulation Research 2015; 117:995-1000. PMID:26429802.
• Owens P, Pickup MW, Novitskiy SV, Giltnane JM, Gorska AE, Hopkins CR, Hong* CC, Moses* HL. Inhibition of BMP signaling suppresses metastasis in mammary cancer.*Co-senior authors. Oncogene 2015; 34(19):2437-49. PMID:24998846.
• Williams CH, Hempel JE, Hao J, Frist AY, Williams MM, Fleming JT, Sulikowski GA, Cooper MK, Chiang C, Hong CC. An in vivo chemical genetic screen identifies phosphodiesterase 4 as a pharmacological target for hedgehog signaling inhibition. Cell Reports 2015;11(1):43-50. PMID:25818300. PMCID:PMC4394042. 
• Hao J, Ao A, Zhou L, Murphy CK, Frist AY, Keel JJ, Thorne CA, Kim K, Lee E, Hong CC. Selective small molecule targeting β-catenin function discovered by in vivo chemical genetic screen. Cell Reports 2013;4(5):898-904. PMID:24012757. PMCID:PMC3923627.
• Saeed O, Otsuka F, Polavarapu R, Karmali V, Weiss D, Davis T, Rostad B, Pachura K, Adams L, Elliott J, Taylor WR, Narula J, Kolodgie F, Virmani R, Hong CC, Finn AV. Pharmacological suppression of hepcidin increases macrophage cholesterol efflux and reduces foam cell formation and atherosclerosis. Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology 2012; 32(2):299-307. PMID:22095982. PMCID:PMC3262074. 
• Wang H, Hao J, Hong CC. Cardiac induction of embryonic stem cells by a small molecule inhibitor of Wnt/β-catenin signaling. ACS Chemical Biology 2011; 6(2):192-7. PMID:21077691. PMCID:PMC3076310.
• Wiley DM, Kim JD, Hao J, Hong CC, Bautch VL, Jin SW. Distinct signalling pathways regulate sprouting angiogenesis from the dorsal aorta and the axial vein. Nature Cell Biology 2011;13(6):686-92. PMID:21572418. PMCID:PMC3107371.
• Hao J, Ho JN, Lewis JA, Karim KA, Daniels RN, Gentry PR, Hopkins CR, Lindsley CW, Hong CC. In vivo structure-activity relationship study of dorsomorphin analogs identifies selective VEGF and BMP inhibitors. ACS Chemical Biology 2010;5(2):245-53. PMID:20020776. PMCID:PMC2825290. 
• Yu PB, Deng DY, Lai CS, Hong CC, Cuny GD, Bouxsein ML, Hong DW, McManus PM, Katagiri T, Sachidanandan C, Kamiya N, Fukuda T, Mishina Y, Peterson RT, Bloch KD. BMP type I receptor inhibition reduces heterotopic [corrected] ossification. Nature Medicine 2008; 14(12):1363-9. PMID:19029982. PMCID:PMC2846458. 
• Yu PB, Hong CC, Sachidanandan C, Babitt JL, Deng DY, Hoyng SA, Lin HY, Bloch KD, Peterson RT. Dorsomorphin inhibits BMP signals required for embryogenesis and iron metabolism. Nature Chemical Biology 2008;4(1):33-41. PMID: 18026094. PMCID:PMC2727650. 
• Hong CC, Peterson QP, Hong J-Y, Peterson RT.  Artery/vein specification is governed by opposing phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase and MAP kinase/ERK signaling.  Current Biology 2006; 16:1366-1372. PMID:16824925. PMCID:PMC1930149. 
• Hong CC, Hashimoto C.  An unusual mosaic protein with a protease domain, encoded by the nudel gene, is involved in defining embryonic dorsoventral polarity in Drosophila. Cell 1995; 82:785-794. PMID:7671306.